Avon Avon : an exegesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

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Abstract

No abstract. Excerpts from preamble:
Throughout the process of this work I have been reflecting upon
my own opaque recollections and the (equally) vague mythical
narratives that form around histories of place. I place
particular focus on the tension created between the haunting of
ourselves––culturally and personally––and on the ruptures
unveiled––both temporal and physical––within a re-collective
narrative.
What do these ruptures look/sound/feel like? Moreover, how
might I evoke them?
I began with an investigation of site through memory, or really,
memory through site, and as such it is very much situated as a
response from a self-reflexive position. What started as a
self-reflexive response eventually broadened and produced a
series of works that engage with, and work to articulate, the
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binary and uncanny moments that have revealed themselves along
the way.
Over the two years of my Master of Fine Arts Studies, I have
split my focus into two separate, but related, sets of methods
and concerns. For the purposes of this exegesis, I am going to
focus on the latter part of my research, in which I have spent
the past year considering and producing the final work for
exhibition. The most significant works over both years will be
annotated in an appendix, to provide some developmental context.
AVON AVON is not a work about earthquakes, although it is true
that earthquakes drew me back to Christchurch,